Wednesday 5 August 1668

So to bed about two o’clock, and then up about seven and to White Hall, where read over my report to Lord Arlington and Berkeley, and then afterward at the Council Board with great good liking, but, Lord! how it troubled my eyes, though I did not think I could have done it, but did do it, and was not very bad afterward. So home to dinner, and thence out to the Duke of York’s playhouse, and there saw “The Guardian;” formerly the same, I find, that was called “Cutter of Coleman Street;” a silly play. And thence to Westminster Hall, where I met Fitzgerald; and with him to a tavern, to consider of the instructions for Sir Thomas Allen, against his going to Algiers; he and I being designed to go down to Portsmouth by the Council’s order, and by and by he and I went to the Duke of York, who orders me to go down to-morrow morning. So I away home, and there bespeak a coach; and so home and to bed, my wife being abroad with theMercers walking in the fields, and upon the water.

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That's our Bess... And it would be just like Sam to pay little heed to learning she was the new Messiah.

"More fish? Or bread?"

"Thanke...Bess, it's wonderful and all that but pray, you do understand this could have an impact on my position. And not to be silly about it but...Does Pembleton really have to be one of your disciples?"

"Oh yeah." grin.

"Hardly Messiahlike, Bess."

"Oh, it's not up to me. And not like you're going to give up everything and follow me..."

"Why would I need to? I'm already married to you. Surely my ticket is stamped..."

Catching up on my Diary, I note the flurry of Pepys Faithful coming out of lurkdom to say hi and thanks (2 Aug). I've been reading the Diary since the beginning. I used to comment occasionally then decided to continue reading without commenting.

As we approach the end of this grand experiment, I've been thinking it would be nice to have a roll call, or a guest book, where readers could post their names (either real or internet, as they chose), where they're from, how long they've been reading, and anything else they wanted to share.

As always, my thanks to all the amazing annotators and above all to Phil, for turning The Diary of Samuel Pepys into a blog, making it accessible to so many of us who would not have otherwise read it.

"Well...We're not going to have to have all these people in the house later on are we? Countess Tolstoy and Mrs. Roosevelt were telling me horror stories at dinner the other night of all the 'devoted' followers showing up in endless streams."

"They won't all die at once, Bess. Besides...Confidentially...A lot won't make it here."

Laura, a good idea to have some kind of "roll call". I'll make a note to post something like this as we get nearer the inevitable end. If anyone else has other ideas for things they'd like to see not the site before or after the diary finishes, feel free to email me!